Hot on the heels of some outstanding A-Level results, staff and students at St Bede’s Catholic Comprehensive School are once again celebrating with the release of their GCSE results. 72% of Year 11 students achieved 5 GCSEs at standard passes or above. This is an improvement of 10% on last year’s figures. 50% of students achieved a grade 5+ in either English or Maths, yet another amazing increase of 10%. In addition, we are celebrating fantastic results in our vocational subjects with a high number of students achieving a Distinction * in subjects such as Business Studies and Engineering. The progress and attainment of students at GCSE is moving St Bede’s from strength to strength as the school moves closer to its aim of becoming Outstanding.

The teachers and students have had to cope with many changes to their subjects this year and changes nationally to the examination system. Behind every set of examination results there is a personal story of hard work, commitment and resilience, which we are keen to celebrate. Despite these challenges many of our Yr 11 students achieved at least one 9 grade.

A number of students achieved an amazing 5 grade 9s – the very top grade. Student Olivia Fishwick was one of those. “I can’t believe I got 9s!” she commented as she celebrated with her sister Isobel who also did exceptionally well. There were lots of other very successful students such as Grace Hunt, who gained only grade 8 or above in all of her GCSE’s. She commented “I didn’t expect it at all! I’m both amazed and happy. These grades now allow me to go onto study Maths, Physics and Graphics at A Level.”

Executive Headteacher, Brendan Tapping commented:
“I am incredibly proud of the achievements of all of our students. We are a truly inclusive school that supports, nurtures, encourages and celebrates every single student. The dedication from the students and unwavering belief from staff of their potential, is the perfect recipe for success. Add to this the strong partnership with our parents; from attendance at revision events to making sure their children have the right working environment at home, and we have the right atmosphere for our students to achieve to the best of their abilities. We are very proud of them all.”

Places are still available for our very successful Sixth Form. Please contact the school on enquiries@st-bedes.durham.sch.uk for more information

Byron Sixth Form College, part of St Bede’s Catholic School in Peterlee, has once again excelled in their Advanced Level results with one third of the students gaining at least one A Grade and two thirds gaining a grade B or above – an amazing achievement for all involved.

Students are to be congratulated on gaining the best results in the School’s recent history. These results are remarkable and reflect the hard work of students and staff – and the strong support of Byron parents.

This year’s A Level pass rate is an unbeatable 100% with a high grade rate (A*, A and B grades or equivalent) of over 62%. In Vocational subjects 95% of students achieved a Distinction / Distinction * ; an incredible achievement.

Abbie Blakemore, a student at Byron College, wiped the board clean by achieving a grade A in both English Literature and Geography, a Distinction * in Health and Social Care and managed to top this off with an A* in Psychology. Abbie said “I can’t believe it! I spent most of last night stressed and crying but did not see this coming!” Abbie intends to take up a place at Durham University to study Primary School teaching, something she has always dreamed of doing. She also said “My time at Byron College has been amazing; I couldn’t have picked a better place to study.”

Bethany Willis also achieved a hat trick of an amazing three A grades in Biology, Maths and Physics. She intends to study Physics and Astro Physics at Northumbria University. On receiving her results she said “I didn’t expect to achieve that! It’s been hard work but I have really enjoyed my time at Byron – the teachers are always ready to help and give up their time.”

Executive Headteacher Brendan Tapping said “Congratulations to our wonderful Sixth Form students on their excellent results; they have worked extremely hard and deserve this reward, which will see the vast majority gaining their first-choice university offer or other course of training or employment. I am thrilled to see the school continuously move from strength to strength, especially the Sixth Form. On behalf of staff and Governors, I would like to congratulate the students on their achievements, we are all very proud of their success, not just the top scorers but all who have worked so hard to achieve their excellent grades.”

Jacqui Jenkin, Assistant Headteacher in Charge of Sixth Form, commented “Our outgoing sixth form have always been a delightful and studious group of students, who not only performed well academically but have also contributed tremendously to the life and development of the school over their two years. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful school staff for all their work over the past year, they have done so much to support students in their achievement of these excellent results.”

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We are delighted to announce that St Bede’s Catholic Comprehensive School and Byron College have been selected to participate in the Mandarin Excellence Programme – an intensive language programme funded by the Department for Education.
The nationwide programme offers students an unprecedented opportunity in terms of language provision and aims to see at least 5,000 school pupils in England on track towards fluency in Mandarin Chinese by 2020.
In being the most widely spoken language in the world, Mandarin Chinese is recognised as one of the most important languages for the UK’s business future. The programme therefore provides a fantastic opportunity for our students to acquire vital language skills at an early stage – something essential for work and for life in an increasingly connected world.
Students on the programme will study Mandarin Chinese every week with selected groups of year 7 pupils beginning in September 2018.
We will be at the forefront of delivering this exciting programme – with support from the UCL Institute of Education and the British Council.